Chocolate Hazelnut Pumpkin Pie has a chocolate hazelnut graham cracker crust and a pumpkin cheesecake filling. It’s topped with chocolate ganache and chopped hazelnuts.
Cheesecake. It’s one of the heaviest desserts around, and unfortunately it’s also one of the tastiest.
The end of the year (mainly October, November, and December), is a time to celebrate. And with those celebrations comes a ton of sweet treats.
From Halloween parties, Thanksgiving, and all the gatherings in December, it’s really hard to decline dessert.
Here’s a lighter version of pumpkin cheesecake!
While most pumpkin cheesecakes have at least a pound of cream cheese, this recipe uses a mere 8 ounces of cream cheese and almost of pound of pumpkin puree.
Chocolate Hazelnut Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin cheesecake is deliciously perfect the way it is.
The creamy pumpkin puree mixed with the tart and tangy cream cheese is such a delicious combination. However, it’s soft.
There isn’t much variety in texture!
In order to add some crunch and excitement, I added ground hazelnuts to the graham cracker crust as well as roughly chopped hazelnuts to top the finished pie.
In my husband’s opinion, this is the quintessential autumn dessert!
I’m sharing this recipe in honor of Sara (Cake Over Steak) and Aimee‘s (Twigg Studios) annual #virtualpumpkinparty.
Chocolate Hazelnut Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
Chocolate Hazelnut Crust:
- 1 cup ground graham crackers (110 g), graham cracker crumbs
- ½ cup ground hazelnuts (50 g)
- 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (10 g)
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar (12 g)
- 7 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (98 g)
Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling:
- 8 oz brick-style cream cheese (227 g), room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (150 g)
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 15 oz can pumpkin puree
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Chocolate Topping:
- 1 cup dark chocolate (170 g) chopped
- 3 Tablespoons heavy cream
- ⅓ cup toasted hazelnuts (50 g) roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate and set aside.
- Crust: In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, ground hazelnuts, cocoa powder, sugar, and melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom and sides of prepared pie plate. Reverse about 2 tablespoons of crust mixture to use later to top finished pie. Set aside.
- Filling: In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar until combined. Scrape down bowl as needed to ensure thorough mixing. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated. Add pumpkin puree, cinnamon, and salt. Continue to mix on low speed until smooth and thoroughly combined.
- Pour mixture into prepared crust. Bake for 50 minutes until the center of the pie is set and no longer jiggles. Remove from oven and allow to cool on rack for an hour until filling has cooled to about room temperature.
- Topping: Place chocolate and cream in a small bowl over a bain-marie. Gently melt chocolate over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
- Pour melted chocolate over cooled pie. Spread into an even layer. Sprinkle chopped hazelnuts and reserved crust mixture on top.
- Chill uncovered in the fridge for one hour until chocolate has set. Place pie in an airtight container (or cover with plastic wrap) and allow to chill for another 2 hours (or overnight) until ready to serve.
Notes
I can’t think of a better pre-wedding diet than this delicious looking pie – happiness in every bite which is the most important thing :-) xoxoxo
Such a delicious twist! I love this combo!
This is a beauty – so sophisticated! Saving to try this holiday season.
Oh….OH…..OH OH OH that looks so good!
Right now I am wishing a slice of that could jump off the computer screen!! That is one gorgeous pie!
Oh my goodness!! This looks absolutely amaaazing!!
Wow, what a truly inspired fall dessert.
It looks amazing and sounds delicious! :)
OMGoodness! That pie is definitely a winner in my book for Autumn! Amazing!! Every single layer!!!
Thank you!
This looks amazing and so perfect for fall. I would say, in particularly, for Thanksgiving but I might have to make this before. Just to test it out!
Chocolate Hazelnut Pumpkin Pie is my favorite item.
Thanks for sharing it with us!
Please continue your writing in the future!
Thanks for the recipe this looks amazing and perfect combination my kids would love it